Inserted in this edition of The Whidbey Examiner you will find a special section entirely devoted to celebrating and honoring the Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival’s 50th Anniversary.

In the section, you can read about how the event has changed and evolved over the years, learn how one artist’s career grew since he first sold his art at the 1965 festival and share memories with festival royalty from 1964 and 1965.

Much has changed since 1964, but one thing certainly hasn’t — the community’s support and involvement in the festival.

Festival President Mike Dessert said he has roughly 250 volunteers for the festival each year and 22 committees.

It’s a lot of time and effort each year to plan and coordinate an event that brings thousands of people to town each year.

It really does take a village — or in this case, a town — to have such a thriving festival each year.

Fifty years is an amazing achievement, and after exploring all that the festival association has been able to accomplish over the years, the community should be proud.

As part of our festival coverage, you will find a front-page feature on the Coupeville Art Center, also known as the Pacific Northwest Art School.

In 1989, the Festival Association gave the center $25,000 in seed money to expand its limited programing.

Since then, the school has thrived and become a vital and beneficial part of the community. It brings hundreds of artists from all over the world each year and contributes to economic vitality of the town.

The art school is a perfect example of giving coming around full circle.

The Festival Association’s original goal was to revitalize Front Street and bring life back into the community. It helped create an independent entity, which now successfully contributes to that goal.

Help us in congratulating the Festival Association on 50 years well done.